Sex, Love and Relationships

FDA Approves New Nitrile Female Condoms

Posted March 18, 2009

The FDA approved a new version of the female condom this week made of nitrile. Hopefully, this will mean a step forward for sexual health for women worldwide.

Photo: Anka Grzywacz (via Wikimedia)

An example of a female condom package.

Good news for safer sex appeared last week – the FDA approved a new version of the female condom.

Most people have a negative view of female condoms – they look more complicated, are much less wide-spread than male condoms, are more expensive, and the older versions could be noisy and require a lot of lubricant.

The FDA just announced its approval of FC2, which is made of of the thinner and lighter material nitrile (which can be used by people latex sensitivities) and will be up to 30% cheaper than the original female condom.

The female-initiated barrier method is made by the Female Health Company and is designed to fix a lot of the problems associated with the earlier female condom which has been on the market since 1993.